I am participating in the One Little Word class hosted by Ali Edwards again this year. In a previous post, I wrote about how “One Little Word Shaped My Year.” The class is simple, and you truly get out of it what you put into it. Obviously, I enjoyed the class last year, so I signed up again and chose Create to carry me through 2019.
With this word, I invite fun and exploration into my world. I hope to push myself to think outside of the box and to learn how to realize the things I want to create by beefing up whatever skill is necessary to make my vision a reality. Lastly, I want to create a better me and a life I feel good about waking up to experience every single day. I want to shake off some of my need for perfection, and just see where my ideas will take me. By focusing on innovation, I seek to force myself to step out of the box and to follow through on my more nuanced ideas. No telling myself to put ideas on the back burner, instead, I will create and see where that path leads.
For me, the One Little Word class is a source of personal meditation through a physical material medium. I sit with a prompt and materials, the rest of what happens is up to me. The goal is to reflect or track an idea throughout the month. Then, to sit down and write down thoughts surrounding that event. Photos are not required but encouraged, which I really enjoy including in my album.
One of the things I love most about the One Little Word class, is the use of photography. In the digital world, we do not print photos or create a written account of the year nearly as much as yesteryear. One Little Word brings me back to those roots, encouraging me to remember moments in time through photography. Before One Little Word, I rarely print photos, and now I even snap photos of the ordinary because I never know what will tell the true story of the month.
For Me
This project is solely for me. I do not share with anyone monthly and I am not keeping track of anyone else’s moments. Instead, I focus this project totally on my wants and needs. On taking a moment to check in with me throughout the month, and to celebrate my personal failures as well as growth. One Little Word forces me to take a moment to reflect and to listen to what life is trying to teach me. Plus, I participate with a physical album that forces me to work in artistic mediums I otherwise would not.
I have no claim to crafting. Never in my childhood did I scrapbook, sew, or take a random art class. Music was my creative outlet, and as an adult I find myself slowly getting more and more into using materials to tell a story. In year one, I started with printing photos, Michaels, and using my knowledge of Adobe to finish the prompts. In 2018, I expanded my stash by purchasing a paper cutter, decorative paper, and stamping materials. I’m not sure what 2019 has in store, but my stash is growing very slowly to suit what I choose to create at that moment.
Choosing the word Create is meant to push me beyond even what I can conceive, and I hope that by year end I can report that I couldn’t imagine where the took me.
